BRANSON - The design team from consulting engineers Crawford Murphy & Tilley laid out preliminary plans for the revitalization of the tourist town’s downtown district on Thursday and received feedback, some of it sharp, from business owners in the area.
The $5 million downtown revitalization plan is expected to be phased in over five years. The goal is to maintain the downtown’s atmosphere while polishing and refurbishing the area by improving sidewalks, parking and signs, and reducing traffic congestion. The city also hopes to repair water and sewer lines.
The assessment phase is expected to take seven months, so planning for the construction can be finished by 2014.
After an hour-long presentation, the 30 attendees at the downtown development meeting broke up into smaller groups to discuss key topics like parking, landscaping and event space.
“We walked into this blind,” Steve Prange, project manager with the engineering firm, told those attending the meeting.
He said priority concerns from earlier meetings include more areas for outside activities, like dining and gathering areas; enhanced festival space; and improved and expanded public restrooms.
An element discussed at the meeting was the Link Market, a method of trying to lure visitors to the nearby Branson Landing outdoor mall over to the downtown. Preliminary suggestions included reducing four-lane traffic at the intersection of Main Street and Branson Landing Boulevard to two lanes in an attempt to open up the area and make it more inviting by adding a trolley stop and retail kiosks.
Branson Landing, built in 2006 along Lake Taneycomo, is a $450 million high-density, mixed use development with 450,000 square feet of retail shops, restaurants and condominiums, according to the 2030 plan and the development’s website. The development is anchored by Bass Pro Shops and a Belk department store. The development has more than 100 specialty stores,according to its website.
The roadway on Main Street between Commercial and Sycamore streets is especially steep, an 11 to 15 percent grade, and possible methods of making it easier to negotiate include the use of landings in front of stores to enhance accessibility.
“That’s right in front of my business and I don’t want to lose any parking,” said Beth Burgess, who owns two buildings along the street and operates Caldwell’s Flea Market, which opened in 1983, and Main Street Flea Market, which opened in 2002.
Prange said while parking was ranked fairly low in priority by those who attended earlier meetings on downtown development, it is clearly a pivotal concern.
“Everybody here is concerned about parking,” he said.
Not counting private parking, the downtown area has 294 on street parking spots and 13 handicapped spaces. The preliminary plan calls for a loss of eight on street spots. The downtown also has 30 trees that are located on the sidewalks. Plans are for an additional 100 trees to be added for a total of 130, but they’ll be located in “bump outs,” dedicated areas that jut into the street and don’t take up pedestrian space.
After the meeting, Burgess and several other business owners grilled John Jackson, director of landscape architecture and urban design for Ratio Architects, Inc. of Indiana, about parking and traffic.
Burgess said the business owners along the section of Main Street near Branson Landing don’t need help attracting business and they feared changing the traffic flow would back up vehicles along the roadway, discouraging business. They also were concerned plans to reduce the grade of the hill there would end up restricting access to shops.
“I don’t need your help. We just don’t want you to hurt us,” she said.
In a later interview, Jackson said the purpose of the meeting was to listen and the plan was just that - a plan - that serves as a framework during the early stages of a project.
“We have to start somewhere,” he said.
Business, Pages 25 on 04/26/2013